Shen’ao Rail Bike (深澳鐵道自行車) is one of two “rail bikes” in Taiwan (the other is Old Mountain Line Rail Bike in Miaoli).
This special experience involves cycling a cute little cart along a decommissioned coastal railway line. The line was build by the Japanese and originally used for transporting coal, salt, and sugar.
You will ride in a two-person cart, pedaling along just like a bicycle. The one-way ride from Badouzi station in Keelung to Shen’ao station in New Taipei City (or the reverse, or both ways if you want) is a fun, easy, and scenic trip.
In this article, I will share my recent experience doing Shen’ao Rail Bike with my kids (read about other places my kids love in Taiwan).
I’ll cover how to book it, how to get there, how to fit it into your day trip itinerary, and other things you should know before you sign up for this unique journey. Also see my more general guide to different types of cycling in Taiwan.
Shen’ao Rail Bike Essential Info
- Cycling distance: 1.3 km (one-way), 25 minutes, difficulty level: easy
- Price: TWD 150 (one way) or 300 (return)
- Start and end point: Badouzi station to Shen’ao station or Shen’ao Station to Badouzi station
- Return trip: 2.6 km, choose return option or just book two one-way trips with a break between for sightseeing around either station
- Badouzi departure times: 10, 11, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- Shen’ao departure times: 10:30, 11:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, 4:30
- Online Booking: book on the official site here, up to 30 days in advance, maximum 4 tickets per order, or book here on KKday for a simpler booking process.
- Riders: Two per car, if you have 1 or 3 people, you may have to ride alone or with a stranger
- Minimum age: 3 and up (or 90+ centimeters), under 12 must ride with an adult, each rider must sit in their own chair and wear a seat belt the whole time
- Check in time: 30 minutes before riding
- Best way to get there: Bus 1579 from Yuanshan, Zhongxiao Fuxing, or Taipei City Hall Bus station to Badouzi. A slower option is train to Keelung or Ruifang, then bus/taxi from Keelung to Badouzi or bus/taxi from Ruifang to Shen’ao.
- Important notes: There’s still an operational train line from Ruifang to Badouzi (an extension of the Pingxi Line) but it is closed for renovations until 2025. The scenic Badouzi train station platform by the sea is also closed but this doesn’t affect the rail bike, which departs from a different station 250 meters away (both are called “Badouzi station”).
How to Book Shen’ao Rail Bike
In order to do the Shen’ao Rail Bike, you should book a spot in advance. It’s possible to show up and try to get a spot, but the rail bike is often totally sold out, so I don’t recommend doing this.
The easiest way is to book here on KKday. This is easier and faster than booking on the official site. If you decide to book on the official site, here are the steps:
Sign Up For Membership
On the official Shen’ao Rail bike website, click “Book the ticket now” (see bottom right of above screenshot.
You will be asked to login. Click “General Member Login”. If you don’t have an account yet, click “Register Account Number” and follow the steps to create an account.
While registering, you will need to put a phone number. If you don’t have a local Taiwan phone number (see how to get a SIM card in Taiwan), you can use your home number. My Canadian number worked.
If your phone number doesn’t work, input any number with 10 digits (like phone numbers in Taiwan). The phone number you enter won’t matter, as you will receive the tickets by email, not by phone.
You will also need to input a Taiwan address. Just use your hotel’s address.
Reserve Your Spot
Once you’ve signed up, use your credentials to log in and click “Book the Ticket Now”.
Select “One-way ticket” or “Round-trip Ticket” and select the departure point. Scroll down and select your desired departure time. Each departure time shows how many spots are left.
If you don’t know yet which direction you want to go, please see the example itineraries I’ve provided at the end of this article.
Also choose the number of passengers (1 to 4), then scroll down, agree to the terms, and click “Next Step”.
Pay for the Tickets
Now you need to pay for the tickets to secure your reservation. On the payment screen, click “International Traveler” and enter your passport number.
Again you will need to enter a phone number and address – this time it lets you choose your home country and address.
You can ignore the information about invoices. At the bottom, agree to the terms and click “To Pay”.
When your payment is accepted, you will receive your tickets by email. The QR code in the email will be needed when you check in for the rail bike at Badouzi or Shen’ao station.
If your credit card doesn’t work, contact your credit card company to see if the foreign transaction has been flagged as suspicious. You can also simply try using a different credit card. Sometimes certain foreign cards aren’t accepted at certain businesses in Taiwan.
Getting to Shen’ao Rail Bike
You are going to start your Rail Bike experience at either Badouzi or Shen’ao station. For Badouzi, the fastest way is a direct bus from Taipei, or you can come from Keelung. For Shen’ao station, you will come from Ruifang, Shifen, or Jiufen Old Street.
At the end of the article, I will share some example itineraries which include Shen’ao Rail Bike and other attractions in the region.
If getting there seems too complicated, you could always hire a private driver for the day.
Badouzi Station
If you’re starting at Badouzi, the fastest and easiest way to get there is bus 1579. The bus starts at Yuanshan MRT station, passes Zhongxiao Fuxing and Zhongxiao Dunhua MRT station, and then stops at Taipei City Hall bus station before proceeding to Badouzi.
Total time is 1 hour 5 minutes from Yuanshan or 52 minutes from Taipei City Hall. Use GoogleMaps directs to find the exact times and bus stop locations.
A slower and more complicated way is to go from Taipei to Keelung to Badouzi. You might choose this option if you want to make a stop in Keelung on the way, or especially on the way back (for Keelung Night Market).
If you take this bus on the way there, I suggest you take a train departing from Taipei Main Station at least 2.5 hours before your Rail Bike departure time at Badouzi station. For example, if you’ve booked a rail bike at 10 AM, take a train departing Taipei around 7:30 AM.
Trains from Taipei Main Station depart regularly for Keelung (45-50 minutes). These are local trains so you can just swipe EasyCard.
Search the train times here and learn more about how to buy train tickets in Taiwan.
When you arrive at Keelung Train Station, walk 7 minutes to this bus stop (Keelung Night Market / Ren 2nd Road / Stop A3) and take Keelung tourist shuttle T99 or regular bus 791 to Badouzi station (八斗子車站).
The schedules for these two buses are confusing, so rather than trying to figure out both of their schedules, it is better to use GoogleMaps directions to check which bus will be best to reach Badouzi for your rail bike time. Make sure to input your date at time of travel.
T99 only runs on weekends and holidays from November to June. From July to October, it runs every day. If you take T99, you will get off at this stop.
From there, you must walk 6 minutes to Badouzi Rail Bike station. While walking, you will walk past the famous and highly scenic Badouzi station platform (see photo above, here on GoogleMaps), which looks over the sea, but it currently closed for renovations.
The rail bike station is 100 meters (a few minutes walk) past the famous train staton. In the above photo, it is just around the corner and out of view.
Another bus option, Bus 791, will get you to this bus stop, which is right beside the rail bike station, in which case you won’t walk past Badouzi train station.
Remember to try to arrive at Badouzi 30 minutes before your rail bike departure time.
After your rail bike experience, if you rode from Shen’ao to Badouzi and want to then get to Keelung, it will be the same bus options in reverse. Again use GoogleMaps directions to find the next bus and correct bus stop.
We took an Uber from Badouzi to Keelung, but it took a while to get one on the app. You can also try this app for ordering regular taxis. The 20-minute drive cost us around TWD 450.
Shen’ao Station
If you’re starting your Rail Bike experience at Shen’ao station like we did, you will most likely get there from Ruifang (which has trains to Taipei, Houtong, Shifen) or Jiufen Old Street.
From this bus stop in Ruifang, you can take bus 791 to Jianji Coal Mine stop, which is just one minute from Shen’ao Station. The ride takes 22 minutes.
Because we were almost late for our rail bike, and buses in Taiwan can sometimes be off schedule, we just took a taxi from Ruifang train station to Shen’ao. The driver asked for TWD 300 up front for the 10-minute drive (a little overpriced, but we were in a rush so we agreed).
If you finish your rail bike at Shen’ao, it will be the same bus directions in reverse, or you can try Uber or a taxi.
Our Experience Riding Shen’ao Rail Bike
For our Shen’ao Rail Bike experience, we started our day by taking our kids to Houtong Cat Village. We took the direct train from Taipei to Houtong.
We didn’t try to squeeze in Jiufen or Shifen as well because we have been to those places many times before and we wanted to have a more relaxing day. Also, my kids only care about the cats.
After visiting Houtong Cat Village for a couple hours, we rode the train from Houtong to Ruifang (5-7 minutes).
In front of Ruifang station, we hopped in a taxi to Shen’ao station (深澳站) for our one-way ride from Shen’ao to Badouzi. You could also take a taxi from Jiufen Old Street to Shen’ao, which will cost a little more.
There were actually five people in my group (me, my two kids age 8 and 10, my wife, and my wife’s brother).
Since the cars take two people each, and each kid must ride with one adult, we had one extra adult. My wife didn’t care about riding, so she opted out and just walked from Shen’ao to Badouzi while we rode.
The pace of my wife’s walking was about the same as our riding. So she even got to take some pictures of us while we were riding.
Anyways, we were actually behind schedule and almost missed our departure from Shen’ao station. We got there only a few minutes early instead of the recommended 30 minutes. There was a long line of people waiting to get on the rail bikes and a few people trying unsuccessfully to buy tickets on the spot.
Luckily we managed to check in quickly and join the queue just before departure time.
For this reason, I suggest that you book a rail bike time a little later than you expect to arrive.
Travelling and transferring often takes longer than you might expect, and buses are sometimes late or off schedule. If you miss your rail bike time, you will only be able to catch a later one if they have any available spots left that day!
When it was time to board, my son and I rode together. As we were at the back of the line, we didn’t get to choose our rail bike color. We just took one of the last available ones. Before setting out, everyone has to be seated and wearing a seat belt.
As you can see in the image below, there are two handlebars for each rider, with a hand brake on one of them. The bike cart is powered by foot pedals, just like a bicycle. You can both share the riding duties, but it’s easy enough for one person to pedal at a time.
My son actually did a lot of the cycling because I was focused on taking pictures. This shows just how easy it is to ride.
You’re supposed to keep some space (around 5 meters) between your cart and the one in front of you, but we could see that many other cars were ignoring this rule.
Sometimes we weren’t paying attention and accidentally bumped into the car in front of us. There are little pads like bumper cars so this won’t cause any damage, but you will likely annoy the couple in front of you if you do this repeatedly.
The scenery at first was nice, but nothing so impressive. We rode through some trees and stone walls, with some cute cartoon characters painted on the sides.
The highlight of the whole trip came at the tunnel in the middle, which is full of wild lights. From the moment we entered it, we were dazzled by the spectacle.
Of course, my camera battery decided to die right when we were in the middle of the best part of tunnel, so I didn’t even capture the full extent of the lights and decorations inside. It went on for a few minutes.
But I still captured enough photos for you to get the point of how cool it was. And I do want to leave at least a few surprises for you!
When we emerged from the tunnel, we found ourselves cycling next to the coastal highway, with the sea visible to our right.
This is where we were able to see my wife walking along the highway beside us.
Once we reached the buildings you can see in the above photo, we cycled between some of them, even passing by this little cafe, where customers on the patio watched us cycle by.
Before we knew it, we were at Badouzi station and it was time to get off!
Which Direction to Ride (and what time??)
There is a tiny elevation difference between Badouzi and Shen’ao. Shen’ao Station is a little higher. Thus, some people say the ride from Badouzi to Shen’ao is slightly harder. But the difference is hardly noticeable and the track is almost totally flat.
Before you book your Shen’ao Rail Bike tickets, you need to know your other plans for the day. This will affect which direction you want to ride and at what time.
Most people include Shen’ao Rail bike with some other activities in the region, as a big day trip from Taipei. There are countless ways you could potentially plan this, as you’ll see below.
The following places lie to the east of Shenao Rail bike: Jiufen Old Street, Shifen Old Street, Shifen Waterfall, and Houtong Cat Village.
These places are west of Shen’ao Rail Bike: Yehliu Geopark, Keelung Night Market, Heping Island Park.
You’ll need to decide which places you want to visit first or last. Some people like to finish their day at Keelung Night Market.
Others like to finish it at Shifen Old Street to release sky lanterns in the dark (shops selling lanterns close around 6 to 7 PM) or see the red lanterns lit up on Jiufen Old Street (6 to 9 PM).
Example Itineraries
There are a million ways you could fit Shen’ao Rail Bike into your day trip. I’ve come up with four example itineraries for you to give you some ideas (I like #3 best!)
The main planning issue with all of these is that you need to figure out exactly how long you will need for each place so that you can book the correct time for the rail bike. I’ve including some times below to help you figure it out.
1. Rail Bike then attractions to the east
Take the 7:40 AM train from Taipei to Keelung (47 minutes) and the next bus 99 or 791 from Keelung to Badouzi (30 min).
Ride Shen’ao Rail Bike from Badouzi to Shen’ao at 10 AM. From Shen’ao station, order an Uber or take a bus (30 min) to Ruifang station.
From Ruifang station, visit your choice of Jiufen Old Street (10 minute bus or taxi), Houtong Cat Village (6 minute train ride), and/or Shifen Old Street (28 minute train ride).
You could potentially visit all three, but it would be rushed. Keep in mind that shops selling lanterns at Shifen Old Street close around 6 to 7 PM, as do most food stalls, shops, and restaurants in Jiufen. Jiufen’s street lanterns are usually lit from around 6 to 9 PM.
2. Attractions in the west first
Take bus 1815 at 7:30 AM from Kuo Kuang Bus Station at Taipei Main Station to Yehliu Geopark, arriving at 9 AM.
After spending 1.5 hours at Yehliu, take a bus to Keelung (1 hour, use GoogleMaps directions), have a quick lunch in Keelung, then take bus 99 or taxi to Heping Island Park (15 minutes). Spend 2 hours exploring the park, including possible swimming at the natural sea water pool.
An indoor alternative option is to take bus 99 from Keelung to National Museum of Marine Science and Technology instead of Heping Island. The museum is near Badouzi station.
Finally, continue on bus 99 or walk 15 minutes to Badouzi station.
Ride the 4 PM Rail Bike from Badouzi to Shenao station. After, take a bus or Uber to Ruifang. Visit Jiufen Old Street for dinner and seeing the lanterns at night, then return to Taipei. Here’s how to get from Jiufen to Taipei.
3. Attractions in the east first
Take the bus from Taipei directly to Jiufen. Visit Jiufen Old Street. Since shops open at 10 AM, I suggest you catch a bus from Taipei around 8:30 AM.
After visiting Jiufen for 1-2 hours, take the bus or taxi to Ruifang Train Station (10 min). Then take the train to Houtong Cat Village (1-2 hours needed) or Shifen to visit Shifen Old Street (one hour to visit) and/or Shifen Waterfall (1.5 hours needed).
Ride the train back to Ruifang and take a taxi to Shen’ao station. Ride the Shen’ao Rail Bike (Shen’ao to Badouzi, choose 4:30 PM). Watch your times carefully, as this is the last departure of the day.
Take a bus or Uber to Keelung and visit Keelung Night Market in the evening.
As I mentioned in the article, we did a simplified version of this. We only visiting Houtong Cat Village before doing Shen’ao Rail Bike. For us, traveling with young kids, that was a big enough day!
4. Return Trip on Rail Bike
Start with Shen’ao Rail Bike (Badouzi to Shen’ao 10 AM). Then go for a walk by the coast at Fanziao Park, where the famous Shen’ao Elephant Rock used to be located before it collapsed into the sea. Budget 1-2 hours for the walk.
Go back to the rail bike station and ride Shen’ao Rail Bike again (Shen’ao to Badouzi 1 PM). Take a bus or taxi to Heping Island Park and possible go for a swim in the natural seawater pools. Take a bus or taxi back to Keelung for Keelung Night Market.
If you’re still having trouble figuring this your itinerary for the day, feel free to share your proposed itinerary in my Taiwan Travel Planning group, tag me, and I will give you some feedback.